Defining Family
by GunterRae
Summary: Molly Hooper finds herself unexpectedly pregnant - and then finds help in unexpected places.
1. Chapter 1

Molly stood in the small bathroom of her flat, staring down at the pregnancy test in her hand. It was clearly positive, and she was clearly terrified. She threw it in the garbage, and pulled a second one out of the box, dipping it into the specimen cup of urine she'd collected.

Three minutes, another positive test. She growled and threw it away as well, then got into the shower, her tears washed away by the water as she stood in the hot spray, her mind spinning.

It had been a blind date, set up by one of the nurses at work. A friend of a friend of a friend. The night had been lovely, and she'd been so lonely. She'd invited him back to her flat and they'd had a lovely evening with a bottle of wine and some absolutely amazing sex.

They'd gone out three more times, but eventually they decided that while the sex was good, they didn't have a whole lot in common, and they'd parted on friendly terms. That was a few weeks ago.

Once she got to St. Bart's she drew some blood and ran a blood pregnancy test on herself. Positive again. There was no denying it, now. She would have to decide what she was going to do about it.

Throwing herself into her work, Molly got through the work day. Other than a few trips to quietly sob in the washroom, she thought she was doing a fairly good job of acting normal. It was Friday and she had a rare weekend off. She could spend the whole weekend freaking out and deciding what to do.

Of course, an hour before she was due to leave, Sherlock Holmes wandered into her lab. She looked up at him. "What do you need, Sherlock, I'm leaving soon and I don't really have time to help you."

He took one look at her, deducing silently, and turned on his heel. "Nothing, I'll get it elsewhere." She watched him leave Why was it even when he was being nice, did he come off as rude? Sighing, she went back to her paperwork. For once, she had bigger problems than Sherlock Holmes.

Molly unlocked the door to her flat and let herself in. She tossed the mail down on the small table just inside the door, then dropped her bag on top of it. She'd look at it later, it was probably just bills and ads and the usual.

Slumping down on the couch, she pulled out her phone, thumbing down to Kevin's contact information. She should tell him. She didn't even know what she was going to do about it, but she should tell him, nevertheless.

The phone rang twice before he answered. "Molly?" he asked. "I didn't expect to hear from you again."

Molly took a deep breath. "Can..can we meet up somewhere? I need to talk to you."

Kevin was quiet for a second. "I don't think that's a good idea, Molly. I've been seeing someone else for a few weeks now."

Molly held back a laugh. That hadn't taken long. "Well, um, I didn't really want to tell you this over the phone, but…" she sighed, then took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant, Kevin."

Silence. Molly held her breath, waiting. What would he say?

"I thought you were on the pill," he said, his voice strained. "You told me you were on the pill."

"I was, Kevin. It was an accident. Trust me, I didn't want this. I don't even know if I want it at all. But I thought you had a right to know."

"Well, Molly, I can't tell you what to do. And obviously if it's mine, I'll support it financially. I really have no desire to be a parent, though."

Molly choked back a sob. "Of course it's yours, Kevin."

"Well, you slept with me on the first date, what do I know? We'll do a paternity test and if it's mine, you'll get support. But I'm not going to be a father. I never wanted kids and I still don't. So factor that into your decision. I'm sorry, Molly, but I have plans and goals and kids do not fit into that at all."

Molly mumbled a few things more to him on the phone, and then hung up, the tears falling down her face. She'd never expected to be a mother, but she certainly hadn't expected it to go this way. Financially, she knew she could raise the baby herself, but mentally? Was she really ready for everything that came with single parenthood?

She heated up some leftovers from last night's dinner and ate it quietly, staring into space and trying not to cry again. She spent the evening curled up with a book, ignoring reality and trying not to think about it.

Molly spent Saturday on the internet, first looking up how adoptions were handled from the mother's side, then reading pregnancy websites. She wasn't against abortion, not in theory, but she was pretty sure that wasn't the direction she was going with this.

Sunday, she called Mary Watson and told her. "Molly, are you okay? This is a big deal for you. I mean, having Amanda was the best thing that ever happened to me, but I've got John. But whatever you decide, you know we'll be there for you."

Molly thanked her and they chatted for a little while until Amanda woke up from her nap.

Two weeks later, after an entire day of pestering her - first in the lab, then in the morgue, then following her back to her office as she tried to finish up paperwork, Sherlock stopped mid-sentence and looked at her for a long moment. She set down her pen and turned and looked at him. "What?"

"You're expecting." he said flatly. A simple observation.

Molly closed her eyes, opened them, and picked up her pen again, turning back to her paperwork. "Yes."

"You haven't been on a date in months."

"A little over one month, Sherlock, you're slipping. And no, I haven't. And before you ask, the father wants nothing to do with it, although he says he'll give me support if I prove it's his. I haven't decided if I'm going to bother."

Sherlock sat quietly for a few moments while Molly scribbled her signature on the printouts. Finally, Sherlock stood, wrapping his scarf around his neck. "You'll be a good mother, Molly Hooper." he said, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. He turned and left without another word, and Molly reached up to touch her cheek where his kiss had landed.

Just what she needed. She had managed to bury her crush on Sherlock Holmes very, very deep, and the last thing she needed right now was for him to start being nice to her again. She was too vulnerable right now.

She rushed through the last of her paperwork, deposited it in the slot for the file clerk to take care of the next day, and made her way home. She saw mothers and children everywhere on her walk. She knew that it wasn't that there were more children out and about, but only that she had her mind on it, so she noticed more. But she watched them. Would that be her, soon? A baby snuggled in a sling across her chest as she made her way through the city streets? Tugging at the hand of a toddler who wanted to stop and investigate every shop window?

That night, after she'd changed for bed and cleaned her teeth, she found herself lying in bed, her hands lightly brushing her abdomen. There was life in there. Life that would become a baby. Her baby.

Within a few weeks, Molly had decided to carry the pregnancy to term, and a few weeks after that, she was secure in her decision to keep the baby. At ten weeks pregnant she heard the heartbeat of her baby at her doctor's appointment, and any lingering doubts she had were silenced as she sat there, listening to the life stirring within her.

Her friends were lovely. John and Mary offered a lot of hand-me-downs from Amanda, since she'd be a little over a year older than her baby. Molly secretly hoped she'd have a girl, so that she and Amanda could grow up as friends, but she didn't tell anyone that.

Sherlock still came to the morgue for body parts and to be generally annoying, but they never talked about her impending motherhood. She thought she caught him staring at her a few times, but she chalked it up to her stupid crush, and hormones. If he was ever going to find her interesting, it wasn't going to happen over the next few months as she ballooned to the size of a whale.

She had her scan in September, and found out she was having a boy. She tried not to be disappointed about it. A little boy with big brown eyes would be lovely, and while most of Amanda's hand-me-down clothes wouldn't be appropriate, she knew she'd love her son unconditionally.

One evening not too long after the scan, she was drinking some (horrid decaf) tea and thumbing through a baby name book when there was a knock at the door. She set down the book and opened it to find Sherlock Holmes on her doorstep.

"Sherlock, hi," she said, stepping aside and opening the door wider so he could come in. "What can I do for you?"

Sherlock stepped in and removed his coat and scarf, hanging them neatly on the hooks by her door, before he said anything. Finally, he turned to her. "Mary says you're having a boy." he said, gesturing towards her belly which was only just now starting to show through her clothing.

"Yes, I found out last week. Do you want to see the photos from the scan?" she stopped herself, realizing what she just asked. "Nevermind, I know you don't."

Sherlock ran a hand through his hair. "I would look at them."

Molly narrowed her eyes, but shrugged. She was proud of her son, and if Sherlock was willing to look at the collection of 3D ultrasound pictures she'd brought home from the hospital, she was going to show them off. She stepped over to her handbag, where she'd kept the envelope, and pulled them out. While she did that, Sherlock took a seat on her sofa. Just as she turned around she caught him sipping at her tea and making a face.

"It's decaf, don't bother. I can make you some real tea if you like." She handed him the envelope of photos and stepped into the kitchen.

Sherlock was quiet while she made the tea. When she came out with a cup for him, he had set the photos down on top of the envelope next to him on the sofa. "The technology is amazing."

Leave it to Sherlock Holmes to look at scan photos of a woman's first child and have his comment be about the technology. She smiled a half smile at him and handed him his tea. "Here you go."

She sat down on the sofa, on the other side of where he'd put the photos, and collected the up, slipping them back into the envelope. "It's weird to think about having another person inside me."

Sherlock nodded. "Molly...have you heard from the baby's father?"

Molly sighed. "No, and I don't expect to. I am probably not going to name him as the father. Money's nice, but he doesn't want anything to do with him and I don't want to open the door to him bothering us down the road if he changes his mind. I guess that's cruel, to him and to the baby, but he had a chance to be involved, and he chose not to."

Sherlock set down his tea. "Kids are flexible. Mycroft and I had very attentive parents who did everything right and neither one of us turned out...right."

Molly smiled at Sherlock. "You have a career where you help people, Sherlock. Yes, you're not good with people, but in your own way, you contribute. There's a lot to be said for that. Mycroft, well, who knows what Mycroft does. I suspect I don't want to know."

"He keeps the British government running. Leave it there." He smiled a conspiratory smile at her. "If he told you, he'd have to kill you."

Molly laughed. "Besides, I make decent money, there's a creche right at St. Bart's for employee's children, and I've got a few years before we'll outgrow this flat. Me and my son will do just fine." She rubbed her hands over her belly. "Won't we?"

Sherlock sipped his tea, and Molly looked up at him. "Why did you come by, Sherlock?"

"I was curious how things were going with your pregnancy, but I didn't want to talk about it at St. Bart's. I didn't know if you'd announced it at work." he said, staring into his tea. Was it her imagination, or was he lying to her?

"They know. I wanted to make sure things were covered for when I was off work after he's born. Plus, I didn't really want to keep it a secret, I'm very excited."

Sherlock shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. Molly watched him. "Molly, my parents have been holding onto the nursery furniture that Mycroft, and later I, used. It is looking extremely unlikely that either of us will have any children, so I asked my mother if she'd mind if I gave it to you, for your son. She said she would be delighted to see it getting some use and not collecting dust in the attic. If you'd like it. There's a cradle and a dresser and a changing table. I don't know if you have room here, but…"

He trailed off, obviously nervous. Molly reached over and took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Sherlock, I'd be honored. I'll make room. That's a very sweet gift, thank you."

Did she notice him blushing a bit? She must have been imagining that. She dropped his hand, suddenly shy, and looked up into those bright blue eyes. "Thank you." she said again.

Sherlock smiled, proud of himself, and stood. "We'll figure out a good time to have it all moved here. I'll take care of everything, of course. It's not every day a friend has a baby."

He paused for a moment. "Actually, it's becoming increasingly common, now that I think about it. I don't have many friends and now three of them will have two babies between them."

Molly stood and smiled. "We'll try not to make a habit of it."

Sherlock shrugged. "Amanda Watson is fascinating. I enjoy being her Godfather, and watching her grow and learn. It's been an interesting experiment."

"Sherlock Holmes," Molly scolded. "Please tell me you are not experimenting on Amanda!"

"Of course not." said Sherlock, "I'm simply making observations about her development and comparing them to averages. She's only eight months old!"

Sherlock left soon after, promising to be in touch regarding the furniture. After he left, Molly sat for a moment, thinking about what a lovely gift he was giving her son. It made her happy to know that he was showing interest in her baby. No one quite knew how he'd handle Amanda coming into the picture, and he'd done so well with her. She had chalked it up to the fact that she was John's daughter, but maybe Sherlock secretly liked children?

She fell asleep that night picturing Sherlock playing snakes and ladders with Amanda and her son.


	2. Chapter 2

Molly's pregnancy progressed fairly normally. She was more tired than she'd ever felt, and achy. Just before Christmas, Sherlock arranged a time, and two burly movers showed up at her flat, placing the cradle and dresser into her room and making room for the changing table in the sitting room. Slowly, she started buying all the things she would need for her son, who still didn't have a name.

She asked Mary to be at the birth with her, since she had few friends. Mary agreed, and everything was all set. She was due mid-March, and by the beginning of February she was as ready as she thought she could be.

Right up until she went into labor at the end of February, while Mary and John were on a much needed vacation.

Molly paced the sitting room of her flat, timing her contractions. She'd already spoken to the doctor, who said that since she was only two weeks early, and the pregnancy had been going well, that they would just let everything progress naturally. Her contractions were still ten minutes apart.

"Leave it to my son to decide to be impatient!" she said, checking her watch again. "Mary and John can't possibly get back from their trip before this is all over, what am I going to do?" She paced a bit more, muttering aloud to herself and getting more and more worked up. Eventually, she picked up her phone, thumbing through her contacts. She really didn't want to face this alone. She had girlfriends, but none that she thought could drop everything and come sit with her at the hospital.

As she reached the end of the alphabet, her eyes fell upon Sherlock Holmes' name. She set the phone down. Did she really want Sherlock Holmes to be with her during labor and delivery of her son? Would he even show up? Was she that desperate?

He answered on the second ring, which surprised her. "Molly?" he said. "Everything okay?"

At this, Molly finally lost all the composure she was trying to keep. "No, no Sherlock everything is NOT okay. I'm in labor and John and Mary are still in America and I don't want to have this baby all alone. Could you..could you come to the hospital and keep me company? You don't have to ...do anything. Or be there when I deliver, or ...oh god, I'm so scared, Sherlock." by the end she was sobbing, trying to catch her breath and calm down.

"I'm already on my way, Molly. Where are you?"

"I'm still at home, I think I have a little more time before I need to go to the hospital." she closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Hold tight."

Molly fixed herself a snack, knowing they wouldn't let her eat once she got to the hospital. She got her hospital bag out and set it on the sofa. She'd packed it weeks ago.

Sherlock arrived, looking almost as nervous as she was. "How far apart are your contractions, Molly?"

Molly looked down at her watch. "About six minutes. We could probably head to the hospital now."

Sherlock picked up her bag and turned to the door. "Okay, I told the cab to wait, just in case." He disappeared out the door, and Molly gathered up her handbag and keys, locking the door behind her.

In the cab, she texted a few people, including John and Mary, but mostly sat quietly. Another contraction hit her, and she gasped and reached for Sherlock's hand instinctively, squeezing it. Once the contraction passed and she realized what she was doing, she pulled her hand back. "Sorry." she said, blushing.

"It's okay, Molly. I don't mind. I wouldn't have come if I didn't want to."

Molly considered that for a moment, and decided it was true. Sherlock Holmes almost never did anything he didn't want to do.

At the hospital it took a few minutes of explaining that no, Sherlock was not the father, but he would be helping her out. They got her into a room and soon it was a flurry of doctors and nurses surrounding her, poking and prodding. Sherlock sat on a chair up next to the bed, holding her hand and distracting her. He dug around on his phone and put some soothing violin music on.

"Sherlock, that's you playing, isn't it?" Molly asked after a few moments.

"Yes. It's the piece I wrote for Amanda and played at her Christening."

Molly closed her eyes and let the music take her away until the next contraction hit.

Molly's labor moved quickly. It was only about six hours before the doctor came in for another check and announced "We're getting close to pushing time, Molly. Are you ready?"

Molly laughed. "Would it matter if I weren't?" She turned to Sherlock. "You don't have to stay for this part, if you don't want to."

Sherlock looked at Molly, and at the doctor. "I'll stay. I'll stay up here, though." She was pretty sure he'd blushed that time.

Molly smiled "Thank you, Sherlock. This means the world to me."

After about 45 minutes of pushing, Molly heard the cry of her son, and the doctor wrapped him in a blanket and laid him on her chest. She gazed down at him, wondering how it was even possible to fall in love so fast. Sherlock tentatively reached out a finger, stroking the side of his face. "Good job, Molly Hooper."

Molly smiled down at her son. Yes, she had indeed done a very good job.

By the evening, things had settled into a quiet scene. The baby had been washed, and looked over, and Molly had nursed somewhat successfully. Sherlock had left and gone and got himself some food in the canteen, but he'd come back afterwards, even though Molly insisted he didn't have to. "I'll stay for a little while longer, I feel bad that Mary and John couldn't be here." He snapped a bunch of pictures of the baby, and of Molly and the baby, and Molly even talked him into holding him so she could get a picture of the two of them.

At some point she fell asleep. Sherlock gathered up his coat and scarf, and left his mobile number with the nurses. "Call me if she needs anything." he said, and made his way home.

Molly woke a few times in the night to feed her son, and noticed that Sherlock had left. She was incredibly thankful that he had stayed with her as long as he did.

In the morning, one of the hospital clerks came in. "We need to do the birth certificate, dear. Did you have a name yet?"

Molly bit her lower lip. She'd been pretty sure of the name right up until Sherlock had been so lovely with her yesterday. Now she wasn't quite sure. Pondering for another few moments, she took the form from the clerk and wrote in her son's name. It was a bit awkward when she refused to name the baby's father, but eventually the clerk left and a little while later, one of the nurses came in with a little sign for the cradle pulled up next to her bed, with her son's new name on it.

Around lunchtime, Sherlock came into the room. He smiled at Molly and walked over to them. Molly had the baby dozing in the crook of her arm. It was then that he looked down at the plastic cradle and saw the name tag.

William Donovan James Hooper

He quickly turned and stared at Molly, a question in his eyes. She smiled at him. "Yes, Sherlock."

"How did you...know?"

Molly had to laugh at this. "Sherlock, I signed your death certificate. I've known for a while now."

Sherlock tilted his head. "Yes, I suppose so. Thank you."

"No, Sherlock, thank you. If you hadn't been here, I'd have had to bring Will into the world all by myself. I'm incredibly grateful that you were able to be there for us."

Sherlock pulled up a chair and sat down. "When are they going to let you go home?"

"Later today, if everything continues to go well. He's eating fine and he's healthy and so am I. I'm really anxious to get home and get settled."

Sherlock nodded. "Do you want me to stay?"

Molly blinked. "You don't have to stay, the nurses are doing a good job of taking care of us. I'm sure you have something more important to do."

Sherlock opened his mouth, and then closed it again. "Well, if you don't need me." he said, standing up. He picked up his coat and got halfway to the door before Molly spoke up.

"Sherlock? Do you WANT to stay?"

Sherlock turned and looked at her. "Only if you don't mind."

Molly smiled. "I don't mind."

While Will slept, Sherlock told Molly about his most recent case, and Molly mindlessly stroked her son's head and belly, gazing down at him, sleeping soundly in her lap. He woke and started fussing.

"Oh, Sherlock, I need to, um, nurse him."

"Okay."

Molly turned red. "Well, I'm new at this and it'll take me a few minutes to get him settled and…"

"Oh! You're being shy about me seeing your breasts. Right. Okay. I'll step out into the hallway, call for me when you'd like me to come back."

"Thanks." said Molly, still blushing. "This is all new to me."

She opened her hospital gown and spent a few moments getting Will to latch on, and then covered herself up as best she could, tucking a blanket around Will. She didn't want to cover him completely, she was still so amazed at the sight of her son. But he was latched on well and there wasn't much to see of her small breast anyway. She called Sherlock back in.

It was after dinner before the doctors finally said Molly could go home. Sherlock took care of calling a cab with a baby seat, and before they knew it, Molly was carrying Will into their home. She tucked Will into the smaller rocking cradle she'd purchased to keep in the sitting room, and turned to Sherlock.

"Sherlock, thank you so much for everything. You've been a huge help, and I really appreciate it." She reached up to hug him. He froze, letting her hug him but not returning the hug. This didn't surprise her - he hadn't returned John's hug at his and Mary's wedding, either.

After a moment she let go and stood back. Sherlock smiled down at her, and then stepped around her to Will. He bent down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, and then turned to Molly, kissing her forehead as well. "You will make a lovely family, Molly. Text me if you need me."

And then he was gone, and Molly turned to her son. "Well, here we are, then!"


	3. Chapter 3

A week later, John and Mary returned from their trip. Once they got settled in, they headed over to Molly's to meet the new addition to their little group. Molly held Will as Amanda stood holding onto the edge of the sofa, unsure what to think of the small infant.

"I don't think she's ever seen anyone smaller than herself!" laughed Molly, as Amanda made faces at Will.

"So, Molly. Will?"

Molly smiled, knowing where John was going with this. "Yes, I named him after Sherlock. It seemed fitting, since he was there through the birth and the hospital stay and everything. It was very kind of him." She handed Will to Mary, who was reaching for him.

"But not enough to actually saddle your son with the name Sherlock, eh?" he laughed, watching Mary hold onto Will while a slightly jealous Amanda sat on her lap.

"I love my son, John Watson." With that they all laughed.

John pulled out his phone. "Sherlock's texting, asking me where we are. Do you mind if I tell him we're here?"

Molly shook her head. "No, go ahead. I actually haven't seen him in a few days. Will and I haven't been leaving the flat much and Sherlock caught a case a few days after we got home." She hoped she didn't look too anxious to see the Consulting Detective, but she knew John knew her well enough.

John fired off a reply and then reached over and took Will from Mary. "He's a big strong boy you've got here. His father must be…" he trailed off, noticing all the color drain out of Molly's face. "I'm sorry, Molly. I shouldn't bring it up."

Molly shifted uneasily in her seat, choosing her words carefully. "He was taller than me, and more sturdily built, yes. I suspect my son will tower over me before I know it." With that Will started to fuss. Molly checked the time. "He probably wants to eat." She reached for him, and settled him under a blanket, getting him to latch on.

"Nursing going okay?" asked Mary. "I'm glad to have Amanda weaned but I will say I miss it." She watched Molly and Will.

"It gets easier all the time. He's certainly a good eater, it's just getting used to everything," replied Molly, peeking under the blanket to make sure Will was situated properly.

While Will continued to eat, Sherlock knocked on the door. Mary let him in, and everyone exchanged pleasantries. Sherlock fidgeted nervously while Will finished eating, and as soon as he was done, he reached for him, a question in his eyes. Molly was surprised. Sherlock hadn't wanted to hold Will in the hospital, she'd had to talk him into it. She motioned for Sherlock to sit on the sofa, next to Mary, and then gently laid Will into his arms.

John immediately snapped a photo on his phone. Sherlock stared daggers at him.

"His eyes are blue," observed Sherlock. "Still."

Molly nodded. "My mother had blue eyes, and ...Kevin had blue eyes. If they stick, I guess we beat the odds. I always pictured my kids with brown eyes, it's weird. But he's beautiful, of course.

"Of course," murmured Sherlock. John stared at him. Sherlock noticed. "What? I've held Amanda many times!" John shook his head and turned back to Molly, asking her a question about her return to work.

After a few moments, Molly noticed that Will was asleep. "Do you want me to take him and put him in the cradle, Sherlock?"

Sherlock shook his head. "He's no trouble, and I wouldn't want to wake him."

The four adults spent some more time talking but soon Amanda grew bored of the toys John and Mary had brought to keep her occupied, so they said their goodbyes and left. Molly walked them to the door, then came back and sat next to Sherlock and Will on the sofa. "You don't have to stay, I promise even if he wakes up, I can get him back to sleep."

Sherlock looked down at the infant in his arms. "You can put him in the cradle if you don't want me holding him, but I don't mind. And I don't mind staying."

"Oh, okay, no, it's fine. You can stay." Molly sat down on the sofa next to them and reached out to touch Will. "It's still hard to believe he's mine." she said.

Sherlocked hummed at this, and soon they were talking about anything and everything. John and Mary and Amanda, gossip from the hospital. Mrs. Hudson had a new beau, and Sherlock had been following him around, checking up on him. Molly laughed at that. "Sometimes I think you worry about her than you do your own mother."

Sherlock shook his head. "My mother can take care of herself. I worry about Mrs. Hudson."

Eventually, Will woke up. Molly slipped the wrap around her body and took him from Sherlock, deftly tucking him in up against her body. He stared up at her and she spoke quietly to him. Sherlock offered to go get them some take out, but Molly said she was tired, and she'd rather just make herself something to eat and try to get some sleep the next time Will slept. Sherlock let himself out, and Molly sat on the sofa, talking to Will and enjoying her time with her baby.

A week later, Molly was ready to tear all her hair out. Will never slept for more than an hour at a time, and at day three of barely catching catnaps, she felt like she was a zombie. Mary had come over the previous evening and stayed with Will for a few hours so she could sleep, but it hadn't gotten any better after that. She couldn't remember the last time she'd taken a shower. She tried putting him in the small cradle and dragging it into the bathroom with her, but he'd just screamed and screamed and she felt too guilty. He was only happy if he was curled up against her chest, or sleeping, and he wasn't doing much sleeping.

She had just gotten him to fall asleep, curled up in the wrap against her, when someone knocked on the door. She froze, staring down at the child. Slowly, she stood up and made her way over to the door, and opened it.

She must have been been quite the sight to Sherlock Holmes. She was in a pair of stained pajamas, with her filthy hair shoved up in a bun on her head. She knew she probably smelled rank, too. Body odor and baby puke and who knows what else. "Sherlock." she said. "It's not a good time."

Sherlock opened the door and stepped past her. "John told me my namesake was being difficult. I felt like I should come help out with that. Although you should have known better, naming him after the most frustrating person in your life."

"Don't think so highly of yourself, Sherlock Holmes."

He gave her a long look.

"Okay, fine, yes, you are the most frustrating person in my life for many reasons."

"Can you give him to me, or will that wake him up?"

"It will probably wake him, but if you're coming over here to help, I am going to shower and sleep and hopefully he'll let you hold him."

She slowly pulled him out of the wrap and laid him down in his cradle. He immediately woke and started fussing, and she quickly pulled the wrap off of her and wound it around Sherlock. She'd never put it on anyone else and it took her a few minutes, all the while Will was getting himself more and more keyed up. "He just ate, he should be fine for a couple hours, but if it gets to be around 4 and I'm not awake yet, there are bottles of expressed milk in the fridge. Do you know how to warm a bottle?"

She finally got the wrap on Sherlock and picked Will back up, tucking him into the wrap up against Sherlock's chest. They both held their breath and the wailing stopped. "Oh good. He likes you."

"I know how to warm a bottle, I've helped with Amanda. Go take a shower. He sniffed at her. "A long one. And then go to sleep. If I run out of milk for him I'll wake you but other than that, go sleep until you wake up."

Molly started to get offended by Sherlock sniffing her, but stopped and realized that he was probably right. She leaned in and kissed Will on the forehead, and then looked up at Sherlock. "This is all very odd, and I feel like I should argue with you about it, but I am going to LOSE MY MIND if I don't get a shower and some real sleep. There's food in the kitchen, help yourself."

And with that, she wandered off towards the bathroom for a long, hot shower.

After her shower she changed into some clean pajamas and plaited her wet hair. She poked her head down the hallway to find Sherlock sitting on the sofa, Will still tucked into the wrap. He was thumbing through his phone with one hand, and playing with Will's hand with his other. He saw her, and waved her away with the phone. She didn't need to be told twice. She collapsed into bed and fell into a deep, deep slumber.

When she woke, it was dark. The moment she tried to sit up, the pain from her breasts hit her like a freight train. How long had she been asleep? She reached down and realized she'd soaked right through the nursing pads she had put into the nursing bra she'd slept in. And the nursing bra. And her (formerly) clean pajamas. Sighing, she hauled herself out of bed in search of a hungry baby, or at least her breast pump. She walked out into the sitting room, finding Sherlock sitting on the floor with Will on a blanket in front him. Sherlock was talking to him, and she realized he was reciting Shakespeare. She cleared her throat.

"Feel better, Molly?" said Sherlock, not looking up."

"Sort of? The sleep was nice but I need to nurse. Now. How long was I asleep? She made her way over towards Will. "Please tell me he's hungry."

"Ten hours. It's the middle of the night. What's wrong?"

"Ten...ten hours? You shouldn't have let me sleep for ten hours!"

"Yes, I did. You needed it. Will and I have had a lovely time. Well, other than the nappies I had to change. That wasn't lovely." He crinkled his nose. "I read to him, and he slept a little bit, and I fed him, and he slept a little bit. I can see why you're so exhausted, Molly. He's all screwed up and never sleeps!"

"Sherlock, I can't go this long without nursing this soon! My body is used to feeding him every two hours! I appreciate that you were thinking of me but I'm in agony!"

Sherlock frowned. "I...I didn't think about that." He scooped up Will and brought him over to Molly. "I was trying to help!"

Molly looked at Sherlock, who looked for all the world like a scolded child. "It's okay, Sherlock. Actually, I'm going to pump first and try to get a little more comfortable before I feed him."

Sherlock moved to put Will back down on the blanket, sitting with him for a moment. Molly shook her head and went into the kitchen to get her pump and the freshly washed tubing. "I appreciate everything, Sherlock, don't get me wrong. You didn't know. It's okay."

Sherlock came into the kitchen. "I am sorry, Molly."

Molly shook her head, "It's actually refreshing to know that the great Sherlock Holmes doesn't know everything. It never even occurred to me you'd be willing to stay long enough for it to be a problem."

Sherlock pouted. "I don't know why everyone is always stunned that I like children. Children are so much easier than adults. They say what they mean and mean what they say. It's when they turn into adults and get so weird and worried about appearances that I stop understanding people.

Sherlock let himself out, and Molly settled down on the floor next to Will and got her breast pump sorted and started. Maybe if she fed Will after she could get him to sleep, and he could at least sleep SOME of this night.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next few weeks, Molly slowly got Will into a fairly regular schedule. He still woke up several times a night to nurse, but she never minded that, scooping him up out of the cradle and bringing him into bed with her, snuggling him while he ate. His first real outing was a visit to Baker Street, to meet Mrs. Hudson.

"Oh, look at the little dearie!" cooed Mrs. Hudson as she scooped up Will out of Molly's arms. Molly stepped back and had a seat at the small kitchen table, watching Mrs. Hudson tickle Will's feet and settle herself down in the chair across from Molly. "He's a beauty, Molly, you have a wonderful son!"

Molly laughed as she nibbled on the plate of biscuits Mrs. Hudson had put out. "It's better now. I thought I was going to lose my mind when he wasn't sleeping, though. But Mary came over and helped, and even Sherlock did."

Mrs. Hudson looked up from Will and looked at Molly for a long while. "Sherlock came and helped with the baby?"

Molly nodded, finishing her bite. "Either John or Mary had told him how difficult Will was being and he showed up and scooped up Will and told me to take a shower and sleep and let him deal with him. It was the strangest thing, but he did a good job. Changed diapers and everything! Of course, he let me sleep too long and I woke up in agony until I could pump, but his heart was in the right place."

Mrs. Hudson shook her head and looked back down at Will. "Diapers, dear? What have you done to that man?"

Will just stared up at her. Molly blushed a little bit. She took another bite of biscuit and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Mrs. Hudson, can I get some pictures of you with Will?"

They snapped a few photos, and Molly promised to get some prints for Mrs. Hudson. They were talking and chatting and laughing when the door to the flat opened up and Sherlock peered in.

"Sherlock, you're supposed to knock, dear," scolded Mrs. Hudson.

Sherlock frowned and came in, stopping to wipe his feet on the mat. Molly watched him as he opened up the fridge, pulled out the milk, and poured himself a glass. She turned to Mrs. Hudson, who was rolling his eyes. "Out of milk again, Sherlock?"

Sherlock put the milk away and turned around. "Obviously." He walked over to them. "Hello, Molly."

Molly smiled up at him, "Hi, Sherlock. I didn't know you were home."

Sherlock stared at Mrs. Hudson and Will. "I wasn't, when I came in I heard your voice."

"Oh, okay." said Molly.

Sherlock stared at Will a little longer until Mrs. Hudson finally said "Would you like to hold the baby, Sherlock?"

Sherlock shifted on his feet for a moment and finally said, "Yes."

Molly held her breath as Mrs. Hudson stood and placed Will in Sherlock's arms. She knew full well that Sherlock was fine with the baby but even after a month, it was weird to see him show an interest. She chalked this up to not being around Amanda much when she was small; Sherlock had probably been the same way with her.

Sherlock held Will for a few moments, murmuring to him, and then handed him back to Mrs. Hudson. "See me before you leave, Molly." he commanded, and walked out of the flat, leaving his half-drunk glass of milk on the table.

Mrs. Hudson sighed and picked it up, dumping it in the sink. "I should leave it in the fridge and make him drink it the next time he decides to raid my kitchen rather than doing his own shopping."

Molly laughed. "You spoil him, Mrs. Hudson."

She shook her head sadly. "I know, I do. But he's a good boy, just not quite all there, you know?"

Molly agreed that she did, in fact, know.

They visited for a little while longer but the day was getting late. "Sherlock wanted to see me for some reason, so I should go see what he wants before I leave." said Molly.

Mrs. Hudson smiled. "He certainly loves that baby."

"I know," said Molly, perhaps too wistfully. She snuggled Will back into the wrap and said her goodbyes to Mrs. Hudson, then climbed the stairs up to Sherlock's flat.

"Sherlock?" she said, knocking on the half-open door. She peered in to see Sherlock sitting in his usual chair, his hands steepled under his chin. Mind palace, then. She wondered if she'd even be able to get his attention at this point. Sometimes he went in there and didn't come out for hours.

She stepped into the flat and set her bag down on the sofa and looked around. John had left for good just after Christmas about a month before Amanda was born, which meant Sherlock had been living alone for over a year now. It was showing. The inroads John had made in cleaning up the clutter around the flat had been completely undone, and the flat now reminded her of the one time she had been here before John came along. Papers and dirty dishes and experiments were everywhere, and in the middle of it, Sherlock Holmes in an impeccably tailored suit.

"You do not fit into your environment one bit," she muttered.

"What's that?" Sherlock looked up. "Oh, hello Molly."

"Hi, Sherlock. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes!" he stood up quickly, and started digging through a pile of books and papers on the desk. "I have something for you."

Molly walked over and watched his frantic sorting, wincing as a pile of papers slid off the desk onto the floor. Sherlock hardly noticed.

"Here!" Sherlock triumphantly held up a flash drive. "You had said you weren't having a Christening."

Molly looked at Sherlock for a moment, trying to figure out how this fit together.

He noticed her blank stare. "I wrote Will a piece. On the violin! But since there'll be no Christening to play it at, I recorded it for him." He stopped, and then added "On this," holding it out to Molly.

Molly reached over and took it from him. "Thank you Sherlock, that's very sweet. Perhaps sometime you'll play it for me..him. Play it for him."

Sherlock's mouth twitched into what threatened to become a smile, but he reined it in nicely with a "Someday, maybe." and walked back to his chair.

"That's all, Molly. I'm busy."

Molly shook her head and made her way back down the stairs. She would never understand Sherlock Holmes, not in a million years.

* * *

Will fell asleep on the way home, so Molly left him in the sling, moving around her flat with her son tucked up against her. She pulled out her laptop and turned it on, and then slid the flash drive into the slot. Opening up the file named "For Will", she turned it on quietly and closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her. She'd heard the piece he'd played at John and Mary's wedding, and Amanda's song at both her Christening and at Will's birth, but this was a song for her son, and it made her weep that something so beautiful was created for the most beautiful thing she'd ever created. She looked down at Will and smiled. "You will hear this a lot growing up, I suspect, my William."

* * *

Two weeks later, it was time to return to St. Bart's. Molly had loved the time with her son, but she also missed her job and the satisfaction that brought to her. He had a spot in the creche at St. Bart's, and she knew she'd only be a few floors away if he needed her. She'd been stockpiling extra milk so she could continue nursing, and would also go down to the creche to nurse him as often as she could.

She went in early, talking with the caregivers and sitting with Will in one of the rocking chairs. They only had two other small babies, so she felt like he'd get plenty of attention. He was still sleeping quite a bit, although for longer stretches at a time.

"He'll be just fine, Molly," said Laura, the main caregiver in the infant room. "I promise to call you if anything happens, and I'll text you some photos during the day, I know new moms like that!"

Molly stared down at Will, then up at Laura. "I know you do a great job in here, and you'll do a great job with Will. And I am actually really happy to be back to work, but it's hard, you know?"

"I do know, Molly. Go up to your office, get settled in, and in a few hours, take a break and come visit. Visit as much as you need to."

Molly took a deep breath, then stood and handed Will over to Laura. "There's a good boy, Will. Mummy will be back soon, promise!"

She backed out of the door, watching Will with every step.

* * *

She made her way into her office, stopping every ten feet to well-wishers who were glad to see her back. She fired up her work computer and started digging through the email. Her replacement had taken care of anything they could, but there were a few personal messages and some things that had been left for her. She knew it would probably take most of the morning to sort out what needed to be done, so she dove into it.

A couple hours later she decided she could take a break, and she made her way up to the creche. Walking in, she saw Laura holding one of the other babies. She smiled at Molly and pointed towards one of the cradles, where Will happily slept. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek, and then told Laura she'd be back at lunch to feed him.

Molly quickly fell into a pattern at work. She'd drop Will off in the morning, spend her lunch break with him, and then scoop him up at the end of the day to go home. Spring turned into summer turned into fall. While she didn't have much time for socializing, she saw John and Mary and Amanda regularly, and a surprising amount of Sherlock. Of course he still came into the lab to pester her at work, but it was becoming increasingly common for him to drop by her flat in the evening to talk and hang out with William. Molly loved these moments, because she felt like it was good for William to have a man around, even if it were a man as odd at Sherlock Holmes. He would read to William, or talk to him about science, while William mostly tried to chew on his shirt buttons or drool on his coat. He never seemed to mind much.

Molly, of course, never minded any time Sherlock wanted to spend in her presence that wasn't just interfering with her job, but she never really let herself think too much about Sherlock's obsession with her son. She figured he was just proud to have a child named after him. Maybe he'd hoped Amanda would be a boy. Maybe he knew he wouldn't have kids and this was the closest he'd get.

Maybe Molly didn't really want to think about the fact that he was coming to see her son, not her.


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas came and went quietly. John and Mary and Amanda celebrated at home, and Sherlock reluctantly went to his parents' with Mycroft. "This is three years in a row, I'm afraid we've made some sort of habit of it," he'd grumbled when Molly inquired about his Christmas plans.

Molly put up her small tree and bought a few gifts for Will. They'd exchanged gifts with the Watsons a few days before Christmas, and Will had been thrilled with all the wrapping paper and bows to chew on. At ten months old he didn't quite understand what was going on, but he liked the lights on the tree and the music, and that made Molly happy.

Christmas morning Will woke her up bright and early. She fed him some cereal and then he nursed a little bit. He was really only nursing out of habit at this point. Once he'd discovered real food she had to be careful that he didn't grab things off her plate. But she wasn't quite ready to give up nursing, so he was still nursing in the morning and before bed.

After that, she took him over to the tree and helped him open the presents she'd bought him. Once again he was more interested in the paper than the presents, but she snapped a bunch of pictures nonetheless.

As she rearranged the gifts under the tree (she'd figure out where to put the new toys at some point, but not right now), she realized that there was a small box under the tree she didn't recognize. Frowning, she pulled it out and looked at the tag.

"To Mummy, Love Will" it said on the tag. She looked at it, and looked at Will. "Doing some shopping, are we?"

She opened the box, and found a lovely necklace and locket. Opening the locket, she found a tiny picture of her and Will in the hospital. She stared at it for a moment, and knew where it had to have come from. The only person that took any pictures in the hospital were her, and Sherlock. She glanced over at her front door, seeing that it was locked.

Sighing, she showed the locket to Will. "What a pretty locket, Will. Did someone help you buy this? That was nice of them." Will tried to shove it in his mouth, and Molly laughed. "I think Mummy should put it on, to keep it safe from you!"

She put the locket on, and then sent a text to Sherlock.

Merry Christmas, Sherlock. My son has impeccable taste in jewelry. - xMH

She didn't get a reply, but she hadn't expected to, either.

It was a cold, wet winter, and Molly was happy to celebrate Will's birthday at the end of February. Everyone could use a little cheer after a few months of winter. She decorated her flat and invited all of her closest friends. Will was just beginning to walk, but mostly kept himself steady by cruising around the furniture and getting into everything. Every time Molly thought she'd moved anything unsafe or breakable out of his reach, he'd find a way to get to something else.

The Watsons showed up first, Mary carrying a squirming Amanda who wanted very much to walk, and John carrying the cake he'd offered to pick up for Molly. Lestrade came next, with a small envelope for Will and a stuffed bear with a big red bow on it. A few of his caregivers from the creche came, and just as they were all sitting around talking, there was another knock on the door. Molly got up to answer it, and she could hear the bickering before she even opened the door.

"Mrs. Hudson, I assure you that I am quite capable of picking out a gift for William. It's right here, it's wrapped, and it's fine." Sherlock snapped.

"I know you mean well, dear, but are you sure it's appropriate?" came Mrs. Hudson's small voice. Molly opened up the door, interupting their debate.

"Sherlock, Mrs. Hudson! Welcome, come in! Oh, Sherlock, that's so sweet of you!" she took the gift and ushered them into the flat. She took their coats and put them on her bed, and offered them some tea.

Eventually they served some cake, Molly taking many, many photos of William getting into his first real piece of birthday cake. Before they could open presents she had to excuse herself and take him into the washroom to give him a bath. "William Hooper how on EARTH did you manage to get cake in your EAR?" she laughed, plopping him down into the water. She grabbed a flannel and started gently washing him.

"Everything okay?" she turned to see Sherlock standing in the doorway, leaning against it and watching her.

"Oh, we'll just be a minute. Is everyone fine? I hate to interrupt the party but there's no way he can open presents like this!" she said, indicating her icing-covered son. Sherlock smirked.

"Oh, he needs a bath, we can wait for present opening." said Sherlock.

Molly smiled nervously at him and turned back to William, who was happily splashing in the water. "William, you're getting Mummy all wet!" she laughed and cleaned him up as best she could. When she turned to grab a towel and lift William out of the tub, she saw Sherlock had left.

She dressed him in clean clothes and brought him back out into the sitting room. "There we go!" she said to the group, who had all be chatting. Mary smiled "I made more tea, we're fine, dear. It's been a little harder keeping Amanda out of Will's gifts!"

"Well, perhaps Amanda would like to help Will open them?"

Amanda very much did want to help Will open his presents. When they opened Sherlock's, Molly gasped. It was a beautiful set of wooden stacking blocks, except instead of just letters on them, they were the elements of the periodic table.

"Sherlock, these are beautiful!" said Molly.

Sherlock smiled a small smile. "Never too early for science!"

Amanda helped William play with the blocks while the adults talked for a while, and then they all began to leave. Sherlock remained afterwards, sitting on the floor with William. William would pick up a block, and Sherlock would tell him what element was on it, and then William would throw the block down and pick up another one.

Molly watched them from the kitchen as she straightened up. She wasn't entirely sure which one of them was having more fun.


	6. Chapter 6

shewhowearspants: Thank you so much for your friendship and kind words. it means a lot.

Nicenipps: I had a toddler, once upon a time. She's much bigger now :) and thank you!

And now for the next chapter. I think people will be happy with the direction...

* * *

**Where are you? -SH**

**At the park, why? -xM**

**Bored. And you aren't home. -SH**

**Well, we're at the park. -xM**

Molly sat on a blanket, 16 month old Will sitting next to her, playing with a blade of grass he'd pulled up a moment ago. He looked at it, then tried to shove it in his mouth, frowning at Molly as she deflected his hand away. "That's not food, Will. We'll have our lunch in a minute." Will threw down the blade of grass and then stood, moving off the blanket. Molly sighed and started to stand up, but stopped when a familiar pair of legs stood between her and Will. Sherlock turned around and said "You stay, I'd like to observe him."

Molly shook her head in exasperation but settled back down onto the blanket. Single parenting was exhausting, and if Sherlock wanted to see what Will would do, he was welcome to chase after him for a bit. "He'll want lunch soon!" she called after them.

They disappeared into the playground and after they didn't return for a while, Molly folded up the blanket and picked up the backpack that had their lunch in it. She started walking, and found Sherlock sitting on a bench next to a woman, watching Will play in the sandbox in a group of other children. Molly sat down on the other side of the bench. "I was wondering where you two had wandered off to." Sherlock hummed and kept watching Will.

The woman on the other side of them turned to Sherlock and Molly. "Your son looks just like you," she said to Sherlock.

"Oh!" said Molly, "He's not…"

"Thank you." interrupted Sherlock. Molly blinked at this.

After a few moments, Will looked up and saw Molly, and toddled over to them. "Mamma!"

"It's time to eat, Will." said Molly. She moved away from the bench to a patch of grass and laid the blanket back out, pulling the lunch she'd packed for herself and Will out. Sherlock came over, settling himself down on the blanket. "I didn't bring much, Sherlock, sorry. I can share mine with you if you like."

Sherlock shook his head. "I'm not hungry, it's fine."

Will, held up his cup of cut up carrots for Sherlock to inspect. "Lookit!"

Sherlock peered into the container. "Yes, Will, those are carrots. Eat up!"

They ate in relative silence, other than Will showing Sherlock everything he ate. Sherlock was patient, showing great interest in his carrots and applesauce and bits of turkey. Molly watched them together. Sherlock had been coming around at least once a week for the last few months, and Will had become very attached to him. Molly hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it - Sherlock spent a lot of time with John and Mary and Amanda, as well. He was lonely, living alone, she suspected.

Will finished his food and put his hands up, indicating 'all done'. Molly took the cups from him.

"Good job, Will. All done. Are you ready to go home now?"

Will looked at Molly and then turned to Sherlock, tugging on his hand.

Molly opened her mouth to tell Will that Sherlock surely had something better to do, but Sherlock stood, scooping Will up in his arms. "Of course, Will. We can do a puzzle again."

Will grinned as Sherlock stepped off the blanket. Molly folded it up and crammed it into the backpack and turned to them. "I guess we're all going home."

Sherlock carried Will home, pointing out things to him. Molly knew that Will could understand a lot more than he could say at this age, but she was sure most of what Sherlock told him was going over his head. There was no doubt, however, that Will loved spending time with Sherlock, and she was thankful that the detective had taken a liking to him. While Will didn't have a father, he did have John and Sherlock, and she couldn't think of any two men she'd rather have influencing her son.

They arrived at the flat and Molly busied herself washing up the plastic bowls she'd filled with food for their lunch. Sherlock settled onto the floor with Will, playing with the simple board puzzles that she'd bought for him. The large chunky pieces fit into the holes easily, and Sherlock pointed out each piece as he and Will put them in the correct spots. When she finished washing the dishes, she stood in the doorway to the sitting room, watching them. In the year and change since Will was born, she'd seen more of Sherlock than she'd seen of him in all the years she'd known him previously, but they still struggled to talk. He was at home with Will, but every time she tried to talk to him, he would be brusque, or find an excuse to change the subject. She was thankful for his interest in Will, but it left her wondering what her spot was in the whole thing.

It dawned on Molly that she was jealous. She was jealous of Will's relationship with Sherlock. Not Sherlock's relationship with Will, but the other way around. She was jealous of the fact that her son had captured Sherlock's attention in a way that she hadn't in six years.

She stood there for a moment, digesting that.

Eventually she joined the two of them on the floor, rotating the puzzles through until Will got bored and wandered off to play with some noise making electronic monstrosity the Watsons had bought him. She and Sherlock moved to the couch, and she fidgeted, nervously.

Sherlock watched Will, pretending not to notice her discomfort, but finally he snapped "What is it, Molly?"

"I...thank you for everything you do for Will. I worry, raising a boy without a man around. But he's taken to you, and I appreciate it."

Sherlock looked at Molly for a long time, searching her face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then turned to watch Will again.

Molly sighed quietly, and checked the time. "Will, it's naptime, sweetie. Would you like a story?"

Will scrunched his face up and looked like he was about to protest, but Molly stood and scooped him up, carrying him towards the bedroom they still shared. "Would you like to sleep in Mamma's bed for your nap?" He smiled, and she tucked him into the center of the bed, picking one of his books off the shelf and reading it to him. He whined a bit when she finished, but he was already yawning, and she knew after a long morning at the park, he needed a nap. She stood and turned around, to find Sherlock standing in the doorway.

She nudged him to move away, and then pushed the door mostly shut behind her. "Tea?" she asked Sherlock, making her way down the hall.

"Yes." said Sherlock, heading back into the sitting room.

Molly busied herself with the tea, and then brought it to him. He accepted the mug with a nod, and sipped on it. She sat down on at the other end of the couch, turned slightly to face him.

Sherlock sipped his tea, watching her. After a few moments, he set down his tea, and reached and took hers out of her hand, setting hers down next to his. "Molly." he said.

She stared at him, waiting. He stared back.

Suddenly, before she could even understand what was happening, he lunged across the space separating them on the sofa, and pressed his lips to hers. She flinched, and he pulled back, jumping to his feet.

"I'm sorry." he said, rushing towards the door. Molly tried to get to her feet but he was out the door and down the stairs and out onto the street before she could get close to catching up to him.

She stood in the doorway to her flat, gazing down the stairs to the main front door, absolutely dumbfounded.


	7. Chapter 7

She didn't see Sherlock for two weeks after that. Not at work, and certainly not at her flat. She tried to put him out of her mind. She had almost succeeded until the day Will came up to her as she sat on the sofa. Thrusting a small, framed photograph of himself and Sherlock at the park at her, he grunted.

"Do you miss Sherlock, Will?" she said, trying to be gentle with him. He looked up at her with his big blue eyes, then back down at the photo, jabbing at it with his chubby toddler fingers. "Sock!"

Molly couldn't help but giggle at that. "Sherlock, Will?"

"SOCK!" he said, shoving the picture frame at her again.

"THAT's going in the baby book" she said to herself, as she reached for her phone. Sherlock answered after a few rings.

"Molly."

"Hi, Sherlock. Someone was asking for you. Literally. Here, say hello."

She put the phone to Will's ear. She could faintly hear Sherlock talking to him, and then Will broke out in a huge grin. "SOCK! SOCK!" he said, then turned and looked at the door. "Sock?"

She took the phone back from him. "I...you're welcome to come see him, if you want. You can take him to the park if you don't want to stay here..with me."

"I'll be over in a little bit." said Sherlock, and hung up. Molly stared at the phone for a moment and then turned to Will, who was still watching her. He looked at the phone, and then at the door.

"Will, Sherlock is going to come over to see you, okay?" Be a good boy and wait." She noticed her hands were shaking, and it irritated her. Sherlock Holmes was the most annoying man she'd ever met, but he was good for her son and she would deal with his issues for her son's sake.

When Sherlock knocked, Will and Molly were on the couch, reading a book. Will immediately shoved the book out of her hand and slid down off the couch, running to the door and yelling "SOCK! SOCK!"

Molly couldn't help but giggle as she maneuvered around the overly excited toddler and opened the door. "Hello, Sock."

Sherlock glared at her. "He can call me that. Not you."

Molly wiped the grin off her face and stepped aside so he could come in. "Of course, sorry. It's just too cute. You're the first person other than me he's called by name."

Sherlock stared at her for a moment at that, and then swooped down to pick up Will. "Hi, Will. Mummy says you missed me! Would you like to go for a walk to the park?"

Molly felt the familiar jealousy creeping up and struggled to swallow it back down. She was not her son's entire world, and she knew she shouldn't be. But did the one person he liked the most have to be the same person she fancied the most? She busied herself finding Will's shoes, which she slid onto his feet as Sherlock held him. She leaned over and kissed Will on the cheek. "Have fun!"

Sherlock set Will down next to him and looked at Molly. "Will you come with us?"

Molly looked at Sherlock, startled. "If...if you want me to. I didn't know if you wanted me to."

Sherlock's face softened. "Yes, Molly. I'd like that. We should talk."

Molly busied herself putting on her shoes, and then they were off. When they got downstairs, Will happily placed himself between his mother and Sherlock, holding each of their hands. Molly looked down at him and up at Sherlock, who gave her a smirk and they set off towards the park.

They walked in silence for a few moments. It was a sunny July day, and there were a lot of people out and about. As they neared the park, Sherlock spoke.

"I apologize for the other day, Molly."

Molly looked over at him. "You don't have to apologize. I know you didn't mean to do it."

Sherlock stared ahead for a few moments. "I did mean to do it. Just not then."

Molly stopped in her tracks, and the trio all stumbled as they reacted to it. Once they got themselves organized again, they resumed walking.

"Maybe we should continue this discussion at the park," said Sherlock. "I don't want any of us to dislocate our shoulders."

Molly blushed, and they made their way into the park. Will dropped both their hands when they got to the toddler area and headed straight for the sandbox, his favorite place to be. Molly and Sherlock found seats on a bench where they could keep an eye on him, and Sherlock turned to Molly.

"Molly, why do you think I was so quick to determine whether or not you were still dating his… father? Why do you think I made sure you had the furniture you needed? Why do you think I dropped everything - and I do mean everything, I was with Lestrade on a case - when you went into labor? Why do you think I can't keep away from your flat? Why do you think I snuck Christmas presents from Will into your house? Why do you think I've fallen head over heels in love with your son?"

"What...case...Lestrade...love...what?" Molly sputtered, staring at Sherlock. She glanced back over at Will, keeping an eye on him, and then turned back to Sherlock. "Because you're lonely, I assumed. John's been gone for years and you never did get another flatmate."

Sherlock closed his eyes, biting back the words that threatened to escape from his lips. He took a deep breath. Molly watched him.

"No, Molly. Because I was trying to get up the nerve to ask you to dinner the day I realized you were pregnant."

Molly's jaw dropped at that, and she stared at Sherlock. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"What?"

"I spent that entire day bothering you at work trying to figure out how to ask you out. And then I deduced that you were pregnant, and I thought I'd missed something, that you were dating someone after all. You weren't, but your life went into upheaval and I stepped back. Then there was Will, and at first he was a clever excuse to spend time with you and then I realized that it wasn't an excuse, and…"

He trailed off, looking down at his hands. "This is difficult for me, Molly. That's why it's taken me almost two years to have this conversation. I have spent most of my adult life avoiding having these sorts of conversations."

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching Will play in the sand. Molly opened her mouth to speak a few times, but every time, her thoughts failed to coalesce into words. Finally, Sherlock spoke again, "Molly, I know this is a lot for you to deal with out of the blue. Let's just enjoy the park and when we're ready to figure out what's next, we can have that conversation."

Molly could tell by the way he practically spit "that conversation" that he was pushing his own comfort levels nearly to the breaking point. "Sure, Sherlock. There's plenty of time to figure this out. We've gone this long." She reached over and squeezed his hand, briefly, not willing to look into his face to see how he reacted to it, and then stood. "Let's go play with Will."

It would be a distraction from her spinning head and racing thoughts, or so she hoped.

The afternoon waned on, the three of them in the park. Molly went down the slide a few times with Will, and Sherlock pointed out all sorts of different trees to him. Molly watched the two of them, walking ahead of her, and thought about what Sherlock had told her. Sherlock had fancied her since before Will? That's what all this had been about? She hadn't dated since she found out she was pregnant. She and Will made a happy family and she didn't have the time or energy to date. She didn't want Will's life to be a revolving door of her boyfriends, either. She let her friends in - Sherlock, and Mary and John, and dear Mrs. Hudson and a few work friends. But boyfriends were not something she was comfortable with.

She shook her head. Things were getting very, very weird. "Sherlock, it's about dinner time, Will needs to eat." she said, catching up to the two of them. Sherlock nodded.

"Let's go to Angelo's." he suggested.

Molly grinned. "You've never seen a toddler eat spaghetti, have you?"

Sherlock scooped Will up in his arms. "I bet he'll do just fine, won't you, Will?"

Will smiled at Sherlock and buried his face in his chest, wrapping his arms around Sherlock's neck. Sherlock smiled at her over the top of Will's head.

Molly's heart soared. Maybe she didn't have any reason to be jealous, after all.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day at work, she texted Mary.

**Sherlock kissed me last night -MH**

**About time! -MW**

**Did you KNOW? -MH**

**No, but you two have been mooning after each other as long as I've known you both. John and I were taking bets on whether or not we were going to have to step in. -MW**

**Why am I the only one who never noticed?! -MH**

**Because you couldn't accept that he'd love you. You couldn't wrap your head around it. So, now what? -MW**

**I have absolutely no idea. We just see what happens, I guess. -MH**

**I think you need a babysitter this weekend. Amanda's been missing Will. When's your next day off? -MW**

**I have Friday and Saturday off -MH**

**Okay. If Sherlock's available, drop Will off over here on Friday and go out. Or don't. ;) -MW**

**The last time I "didn't go out" I ended up pregnant. -MH**

**Yeah, maybe don't do that. Not now. ;) -MW**

Molly grinned and dropped her phone back into her lab coat pocket and headed down to the morgue. She had two autopsies waiting for her and it was early yet.

She turned on the voice recorder and started slicing into Mr. Peralta. Autopsies were easy. They didn't confess love or kiss her so hard her mind spun. She was good at her job, and it was easy to forget about everything else and focus on her job.

She picked up Will from the creche for lunch as usual, and the two of them headed to the canteen. She fixed herself a salad and got some food for Will, and they took up their usual table by the window. Will liked to look out at all the people passing by. He was nibbling on cut up pieces of chicken when he suddenly yelled, "SOCK!"

Molly turned and saw Sherlock walking down the sidewalk. "Yes, that's Sherlock. He's probably working, though, so I don't know if he'll be able to visit." She knew once Will got something in his head he wasn't going to let go of it, and within moments he was standing in front of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of his favorite friend. "Sock? Sock!?"

Molly slid off her seat and picked him up. "Sherlock is working, sweetie. We'll see him later." She set him back down in his seat. "Finish your lunch, it's almost time to go back to your friends."

Will reluctantly ate a few more bites but didn't stop scanning the canteen, looking for Sherlock. They finished eating and Molly scooped him up, walking back towards the lift to take him back to the creche. The doors opened, and there was Sherlock and DI Lestrade, deep in conversation.

"SOCK SOCK SOCK!" yelled Will, struggling to get out of Molly's arms. Lestrade looked up in alarm and Sherlock smiled.

"Sock?" Greg asked Molly, as she handed the squirming toddler to Sherlock. She stepped into the lift with them.

"He can't say Sherlock." said Molly, by way of explanation.

"He's awful excited to see him." said Greg. "Spend a lot of time together, do they?" he grinned conspiratorially at Molly.

Molly blushed. "Sherlock comes around, yeah."

She looked over at Sherlock. He was holding Will, who was latched around his neck, hugging him. Sherlock shrugged at Lestrade and said, "He likes me, what can I say?"

Molly laughed, "That's an understatement. He needs to go back to the creche, though. Were you two looking for me?"

Sherlock hit the button for 4, the floor the creche was on. "Yes, we need to see Mr. Peralta's body."

Molly narrowed her eyes. "I did his autopsy this morning, I didn't find anything suspicious." The elevator stopped, and they made their way down the hall.

"It's probably nothing, but I just want to see." said Sherlock, pushing open the door to the creche. They made their way to the room Will belonged in, and he set Will down. His caregiver watched them, not used to such a group bringing Will back from lunch.

"Hi, Molly." she said, and then looked up at Sherlock "Sherlock, right? The detective?"

Sherlock nodded.

Will tugged on Sherlock's pants and said "BYE SOCK!" and ran off to play with the toys in the room. Molly smiled.

"I'll be back around 5 o'clock." said Molly. His caregiver nodded, and the three of them headed down to the morgue.

After a quick inspection of the body, Lestrade left. Sherlock lingered.

"Sherlock, if you're not busy Friday, Mary said they'll take Will overnight if we want to, um, go out."

Sherlock nodded. "I got a text from John today already, telling me it was about bloody time I made a move on you."

Molly blushed. "You haven't made a move on me...yet." She turned and started walking over to the drawers, to get her next body out. Throwing him a grin over her shoulder, she winked at him.

Sherlock blushed. "Well, I'll see you Friday, then? Come over to Baker Street once you've dropped off Will?"

"Yes, definitely." said Molly, wheeling Mrs. Thompson over. "See you then!"

* * *

Molly thought this week would never end. When they'd set their date Monday afternoon, Friday didn't seem that far away. By Wednesday, though, she was climbing the walls nervous. She'd texted with Sherlock a little bit but it was mostly average stuff - sending him photos of interesting things she'd discovered during autopsies, bits of interesting things she'd read.

In the back of her mind, of course, she was convinced that none of this was actually real, or that it was some sort of set up. She'd confided to a coworker that they had a date, and he'd immediately brought up the whole "Janine Thing". "Didn't you say that ended up being fake, for a case, regardless of what the newspapers said?"

Molly shrugged. "Yeah, that was fake. But I faked his death, Robert. He knows full well he doesn't have to lie to me to get him to do things for him. I think that's one of the reasons he's able to deal with all these … emotions. He knows that I'd be there for him without it."

Robert shook his head and patted Molly on the shoulder. "Just be careful, okay? He seems like he likes you and he's nice enough but he lives a dangerous life."

Molly couldn't deny that, that was true. She thought back to their snog at her flat, and soon realized she'd been standing over the body she was meant to be autopsying, holding her scalpel and staring off into space. "Snap out of it, Hooper!" she admonished herself. "You still have days and days to get through!"

Thursday night she packed a bag for Will, telling him that tomorrow he was going to go see Amanda and stay with John and Mary. He'd spend the night there a few times, and she figured he'd be fine, but she wasn't oblivious to the fact that this might not go as well as she hoped. They read stories after bathtime and she tucked him into bed. She pondered packing an overnight bag for herself, but thought maybe that was a bit presumptuous. Frowning, she put her travel toothbrush and her deodorant into her handbag, and decided if she had to do the "walk of shame" home in her regular clothes on Saturday, well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Mary was working the early shift at the surgery, but she'd be home by 2. Molly took Will to the park in the morning, trying to kill some time and keep her mind off being nervous. She'd texted Sherlock that she'd be by around 3:00, and he'd answered back that he was looking forward to it. She was nervous that he'd catch a case between the time they'd planned this and today, but everything appeared to be going as smoothly as one could expect.

When one had a date with Sherlock Holmes, anyway.

Molly carried Will as they walked to the park Friday morning, too impatient to deal with the dawdling toddler who always seemed to need to stop and look at everything. Molly smiled to herself, wondering if that was Sherlock's influence over the last year and a half. Sherlock had always talked to Will like he understood every word he was saying, never talking down to him. She wondered what it had been like for Sherlock and Mycroft growing up. She knew there was a bit of an age gap between them. Did that account for their difficulties in getting along? Growing up an only child Molly had often wished for siblings, but between Sherlock and Mycroft and what John had told her about Harry (who she'd still never met), she wondered if maybe she hadn't had the best of it.

They played in the park until lunchtime, and then went home to eat. By the time she'd cleaned up after lunch and put everything away, she still had a good hour before she needed to leave for John and Mary's. She caught herself pacing the small flat, and finally forced herself to relax. She'd known Sherlock for years and years. She didn't even know what they were planning on doing on this date, since they hadn't really discussed it. Frowning, she pulled out her phone.

**It occurs to me we haven't actually made any plans. Did you want to go out? Should I wear something nice? xM**

**I rarely want to go out, Molly, but it seems we should have something more than takeout for dinner. But no, just be yourself, it'll be fine. SH**

Well, THAT didn't help. Molly went into the bathroom and brushed her hair, finally deciding to pull the sides up but leave most of it down. She knew her hair was one of her best assets.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time to head over to John and Mary's. She elected to take a cab, not wanting to deal with Will and his bag on the tube. Will happily looked out the window the whole way there, excited by the treat of taking a cab. They usually walked to Bart's, since it wasn't that far.

Mary answered the door when she rang the bell, ushering her and Will inside. "WILL!" yelled Amanda, almost knocking him over as she ran to hug him. At two and a half, Amanda was every bit her parent's child: willful, stubborn and intelligent. And completely smitten with Will.

"Hi Auntie Molly!" she said, holding onto Will's hand for dear life.

"Hi there, Amanda! You have fun with Will, okay? I'll see you tomorrow when I pick him up!"

The two disappeared into the house, and Mary stood, looking at Molly. "Molly, do you want me to drive you over to Baker Street? I saw you cabbed here, but it wouldn't be any trouble at all for me to drive you. John can handle the kids for a bit."

"That would be really nice of you Mary. I could use a girlfriend pep talk."

Mary grinned, and ducked her head into the sitting room. "I"m taking Molly over to Sher-locks" she said in a sing song voice. Molly reached over and playfully smacked her on the arm.

"Are you gonna have a sleepover?" she asked, as Molly quickly ducked out the front door, trying to avoid her friend's teasing. Mary hurried after her, giggling.

Things turned a bit more serious in the car. Mary drove, and Molly babbled. "I have no idea what to expect, or what Sherlock expects, and this is just weird, Mary!"

"Molly." said Mary, "Sherlock is the same man you saw last weekend. He's an overgrown five year old. You've known him for a long time. You've loved him for a long time. Yes, there's something changing between the two of you but you are still the same people. You'll talk about science, and he'll tell you your taste in music is awful, and there'll be some snogging. It will be fine, I promise!"

Molly blushed at the mention of snogging. "The snogging was very, very nice. I am looking forward to the snogging part!"

Mary grinned, and pulled up outside 221B. "Off you go, then. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Molly giggled at this. "Is there anything you wouldn't do? You SHOT him."

Mary raised her eyebrows and tilted her head. "Something I regret constantly. He knows that."

Molly frowned. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it. I know it was a terrible situation."

Patting her friend on the shoulder, Mary smiled, "I know. It's a thing. We can't pretend it didn't happen but we can move on from it. Now get! You have a date!"

Molly took a deep breath and opened the car door, sliding out. "Wish me luck!" she said, and walked up to 221B and rang the bell.


	9. Chapter 9

Molly didn't have long to wait before Sherlock opened the door, smiling down at her. She smiled shyly and made her way inside, following Sherlock up the stairs. She thought she caught a glimpse of Mrs. Hudson peeking out her door at the two of them, but she shrugged it off as an overactive imagination.

She closed the door to the flat behind her, and turned to stare at Sherlock, who was staring at her.

"Molly…" Sherlock began.

"Sherlock…" Molly began.

They both laughed then, and then Sherlock stepped over to her, reaching for her hands. She looked up at him. He smiled, and leaned down and placed a small kiss on her lips. "I'm glad you're here. I know this is all very ...new."

Molly squeezed his hands. "It's a bit difficult. Not only have I not dated or anything for a long time, it's..well, it's you."

"It's just me, Molly. You need to stop thinking of me as Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, and just think of me as Sherlock, that arse that likes kissing you."

Molly grinned at this. "Do you, now?"

"I do," said Sherlock, his voice deepening. "I do quite a bit."

And with that he was kissing her, his hands wrapped around her head, his fingers tangled in her hair as he kissed her soundly. She returned the kiss, up on her tiptoes.

When they finally broke, Sherlock led her into the kitchen. "I've been doing experiments on the decay of human hair in different liquids. I thought you might be interested in seeing my results."

Molly sat down at the microscope and Sherlock started showing her slide after slide, describing what he'd done. By the time they finished, hours had gone by. Molly sat back in the chair, and looked up at Sherlock. "That was utterly fascinating."

Sherlock smiled, almost looking shy. "I'm glad you found it interesting." He looked around the room for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, and then cleared his throat. "I think it's almost time we headed out to dinner. I hope you like Thai."

Molly said she did, and they made their way down the stairs, where Sherlock hailed them a cab. They ate, or rather Molly ate and Sherlock nibbled at his food. Molly tried not to make a big deal about it.

"So how's Will?" asked Sherlock as they ate.

"He's had a busy week. He's picking up words faster and faster now. It's kind of crazy to watch. The next time you see him you'll be amazed."

"Fascinating. I'll have to bring over some new books." responded Sherlock, taking a bit of his pad thai. "I was going to order some new ones for Amanda, so I'll get them all at once."

Molly smiled. "I'd say you don't have to do that, but I know you know."

"Will and Amanda are the closest I've got to children. I think encouraging intelligence and learning is very important."

"He's certainly curious about everything. Every leaf, every stick. Sometimes the walk home from work takes twice as long as it should."

"Could be worse, Molly. Think of my poor mother. By the time she got Mycroft off to school, there I was. Sometimes I think we both ended up at boarding school just so she could have a break."

"Mary said your mother was a mathematician?"

"Yes. She quit work when Mycroft was born, and then by the time I went off to school she'd been home for 15 years and never really got back into it."

"Did you like going away to school?" Molly asked.

Sherlock set his fork done and sipped on his water. "I never liked school at all. Being away, being home, none of it would have really mattered. I've always been perfectly happy to learn what I was interested in. But I bristled at being told what to study. This is why I didn't last long at Uni."

Molly nodded, "That doesn't surprise me at all."

Sherlock grinned, "Yes, I've been a stubborn arse since birth. Just ask Mycroft. I think he was happy to go away to school just to get away from his annoying baby brother."

Molly laughed. "There's what, six years between you guys?"

Sherlock shook his head. "Seven. Apparently they tried for a long time to have another child, and then they ended up with me." He frowned.

"I bet you were a difficult child, but I'm sure your parents love you. Mary says they're lovely people."

The waiter came by with the bill, and Sherlock handed him his card. "They're...normal. My mum's brilliant, but she's...not like me. Or Mycroft. We were raised in a loving home, with lots of toys and books and were sent to good schools. I was doomed to be...whatever I am."

"Aww, not doomed. Gifted." argued Molly.

"Gifted," scoffed Sherlock, "The constant noise in my head is not a gift. It's helpful, when I need it to be, but it's also what drove me to drugs, and, well."

Molly nodded, "Everything at a cost, I suppose."

Sherlock shrugged, scribbling his name on the receipt the waiter brought back to him. "Nothing I can do about it, really."

They made their way outside and into a cab. The ride back to Baker Street was quiet. At one point, Molly texted Mary to see how Will was doing, and Mary replied back with a photo of Will and Amanda, limbs tangled, sound asleep in Amanda's bed. She showed it to Sherlock.

"Best friends for life, those two, I suspect." he said.

Molly smiled, and then took a chance and leaned over, resting her head against Sherlock's arm. He froze, momentarily, and then relaxed.

Back at Baker Street, Sherlock let them in and soon they were alone in the flat again. Molly stood, nervously, watching Sherlock. Sherlock stood at the window, looking down at the dark London street.

Finally, he spoke. "Thank you."

"For what?" asked Molly, stepping over to stand next to him.

Sherlock tilted his head slightly, watching her. "For today. For giving me a chance."

Molly couldn't help but laugh. "I feel like I should be saying the same to you, Sherlock."

"You've had functional relationships before. You could have another one. Yet you choose to be here, with me."

Molly reached over and took Sherlock's hand, sliding her small fingers between his long ones. "Are you saying we're going to have a dysfunctional relationship? Already?"

Sherlock smirked, "It certainly won't be normal."

Molly turned and looked at him, "Who said I've been looking for normal?"

Sherlock turned, looking down at her. "Well, you seem to have found yourself some not normal." When she grinned, he leaned down and captured that smile in a kiss.

It started out as a simple kiss, but quickly evolved into something more. The kiss deepened, and Molly felt herself being pulled closer to him as his arms wrapped around her. He licked along her lips, and when they parted for him, his tongue quickly found its way into her mouth.

When they broke away, reluctantly, Molly felt like her head was spinning. She took a step back and looked up at Sherlock. His face was impossible to read. "Sherlock?"

Sherlock closed his eyes, and then opened them again. "I haven't...I haven't done this in a long time. Like, a very long time. You know my opinions on sentiment. Or rather...my former opinions. I seem to be forming new ones. It's a lot to take in."

Molly stood, watching, waiting.

"I adore you. I adore your son. I want to make you both happy. So far, I've done that for William but I haven't been able to do it for you, because I was afraid. Afraid I couldn't make you happy. I'm still afraid I can't make you happy, Molly. You know me."

Molly stepped up to Sherlock and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I do, Sherlock. I know you better than you'd like to admit. If I wanted nice, and safe, and normal, I'd have stayed with Tom."

"Meat dagger." grumbled Sherlock.

Molly laughed. "I think that's when I knew it was never going to work. He said 'meat dagger' and the look on your face…" she laughed again.

"Molly Hooper?" asked Sherlock, suddenly serious.

"Yes, Sherlock?"

"Is this the point in the date where I sweep you off your feet and take you to bed?"

Molly raised her eyebrows. "You swept me off my feet a long time ago, Sherlock Holmes. But yes, it's time for you to take me to bed."

And that's just what he did.

* * *

_This fic felt too fluffy for proper smut. See my other fics for that. But I will tell you that Sherlock and Molly very much enjoyed their evening together. ;)_


	10. Chapter 10

The summer flew by. Sherlock continued to visit Molly and Will when he had the chance, and Molly spent a few more nights at Baker Street, thanks to Mary and John. Sherlock quite often joined them for lunch in the canteen.

One day, in early September, Molly and Will were finishing up lunch when Sherlock swept into the canteen and dropped into the seat next to Molly. Molly turned to look at him, and he gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Hello, Molly."

Molly smiled "You're late, Sherlock, I have to go back to work now."

Sherlock raised his eyebrows. "Do you think I don't know when your lunch is? I arrived right when I meant to."

Molly narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what on earth he could be up to.

"I'd like to take Will for the afternoon." said Sherlock simply, stealing a bite of Molly's half-finished salad.

Molly's eyes widened and she looked at Sherlock and then at Will, who was even at that moment sliding off of his chair and making his way around the table to climb up onto Sherlock's lap. She watched the two of them for a moment. Sherlock kept an eye on Will as he climbed, not helping, but watching in case he needed help. Will eventually sat up on his knees in Sherlock's lap, facing him. Before Sherlock knew what was happening, Will grabbed onto either side of his face and placed a wet kiss right on Sherlock's cheek.

Molly couldn't help but laugh as Sherlock carefully removed Will's hands from his face, pulled out a handkerchief, and dabbed at his face. "Little too messy there, Will." Will just grinned at him.

Sherlock turned to look at Molly. "Well?"

Molly leaned over to Will. "Will, would you like to spend the rest of the day with Sherlock instead of going back to playschool?"

Will looked at Molly and then looked at Sherlock, a wide grin breaking out on his face. "Park, Sherlock?"

Sherlock narrowed his eyes. "I was thinking more science museum."

Will looked a little confused at the unfamiliar words, but that wasn't going to stop him. "Okay, Sherlock. We go."

Molly smiled and stood up, gathering all of their dishes to clean off the table. "I guess that's settled then. You two have fun, okay?" She turned to Sherlock. "We'll have to run by the nursery and get his bag. He's still not potty trained, so you might be on nappy duty…" she trailed off, wondering if this would temper his enthusiasm for a day alone with Will.

Sherlock's expression hardened for a moment, but then the insistent tugging of his hand by Will caused him to look down at him. "Yes, well. We'll have to work on that, won't we Will?"

Molly shook her head and walked over to drop the dishes on the conveyor belt back into the kitchen, Will and Sherlock following her. "Sherlock, I know you think you can do anything but I'm fairly sure you will not potty train an 18 month old in a single afternoon."

Sherlock tilted his head. "Perhaps not."

They quickly got Will's bag from the nursery. Molly was pleased she'd opted for a plain backpack rather than anything too flowery or babyish, she couldn't see Sherlock walking through London with a purple flowered baby bag. The idea made her giggle.

"What?" Sherlock asked, siding the backpack onto one shoulder and picking up Will.

"Nothing, nothing at all. You two have a fun time. Bring him home to my place around 6?" She leaned over and kissed Will, and then after a moment's hesitation, kissed Sherlock. They hadn't been expressing too much affection in front of Will, just in case whatever they were didn't work out. As the months went on, however, Molly was getting less and less worried about it. Things with Sherlock were going fairly well. He would disappear on cases, and there were times when all she heard from him for days were short text messages, but it was always just Sherlock being Sherlock and never anything personal. He would still barge into the lab demanding things, but there were always kisses afterwards, and occasionally even a thank you. Lestrade had learned to exit the lab quickly after they finished up if he didn't want to see the consulting detective with his tongue down the throat of the pathologist.

Sherlock nodded, and he and Will headed off to their adventure. Molly headed off to the morgue.

Molly walked home from work, enjoying the rare walk that didn't have an inquisitive 18 month old slowing her down. She arrived home in record time, well ahead of Sherlock and Will. Smiling, she headed into the kitchen and started fixing some dinner. She doubted Sherlock would eat, but maybe he'd stay for a little while.

About fifteen minutes later she heard the slamming door of a cab outside and walked to the sitting room to look out the window. Sherlock was standing on the pavement, Will over by the flowerpots on the stoop. He was showing Sherlock the flowers he and Molly had planted in flowerpots and put out there to decorate a little bit. Molly smiled, and then walked over and hit the intercom button. "Are you two coming up or are you going to stand outside all night?"

"MOMMY!" said Will, and turned to the door, waiting for Sherlock to open it.

When they got upstairs, Will kicked his shoes off and started to drag Sherlock over to the bookshelf. "Will, why don't you look at books by yourself for a moment, I'd like to talk to your mummy."

Molly motioned for him to follow her and headed back into the kitchen where she was chopping up some raw vegetables. Sherlock washed his hands and then nudged her aside and started cutting up the cucumbers, slicing and then quartering them, the way Will liked them. Molly found that the best way to get vegetables into her young son was bite sized raw vegetables, and pretty much had them available to him at all times. She left Sherlock to it and checked on the chicken she'd just put in the oven.

"So, how was that, then?", she asked.

Sherlock popped a piece of cucumber into his mouth and then said, "He's certainly got a lot of energy. He liked the hands-on stuff at the science museum."

"He's definitely my son," agreed Molly. Sherlock smiled at that.

"It was fun. I'd like to do it again, although hopefully not too soon. There's been a lack of cases lately and it's growing frustrating. You know how much I hate being bored."

Molly hummed in agreement at this. She pulled out the plates and silverware and set the small kitchen table. Sherlock grabbed a plate and put the vegetables on it and set it on the table. Molly started to make up a salad for herself and turned to Sherlock. "Salad?"

Sherlock looked at her for a moment. "A little bit. I could stand to eat."

Molly laughed, "You think? You ate like half a cucumber while you were slicing, you know. That might be the most food I've ever seen you eat in one sitting."

Sherlock narrowed his eyes and looked at the plate of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and carrot slices. "Apparently."

They stood in the kitchen talking until the chicken was done, and then Sherlock went and got Will, holding him over the kitchen sink and helping him wash his hands. He got him settled on his booster seat. Molly cut up some chicken for him and then let him grab some vegetables off of the plate, knowing he'd eat more if he got to decide what and how much. She put a piece of chicken on her plate and offered the plate to Sherlock, who considered and then took one.

Sherlock spent dinner time telling Molly about their day at the museum, with Will occasionally interjecting comments. "Boats, mommy! Boats floating!" Molly did up the dishes while Sherlock sat in the sitting room with Will. Will was playing with his wooden train set when she came out, and Sherlock was in what she considered his "mind palace" position, feet tucked under him on the sofa, hands steepled beneath his chin. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"Bathtime, Will! You've had a busy day!" Will looked up from his trains and then stood. "Boats, mamma?"

They went into his room and found a few of his plastic boats, and Molly tossed them into the tub while the water filled up. "BUBBLES!" insisted Will, and she reached over and poured in some of his favorite bubble bath, as well.

Will worked at taking his clothes off while Molly watched. He still didn't quite have the coordination to do it in any sort of speedy fashion, but he eventually worked off his tee shirt and shorts. After turning off the water, Molly reached over and pulled off his nappy. "Do you want to try to use the potty, Will?"

"Sherlock potty!" he said. Molly did a doubletake. "Yes, sweetie, I'm sure while you were out today, Sherlock had to use the potty. That's what big boys and girls do."

"Will potty!" he said, climbing up onto the small stepstool Molly had bought for the bathroom. He'd never really shown any interest in the potty before, and she wasn't really pushing it. He still wouldn't be two until February. He stood at the potty for a moment, Molly helping him with what little aim he could manage, but of course nothing happened. The nappy she took off him had been wet.

"Maybe you can try after your bath, Will." she said, and scooped him up and dropped him into the tub. "Do you want to wash first, or play first?"

"Wash first!" said Will, and Molly sat on the side of the tub, soaping up a flannel and scrubbing him clean. She got a dry one and placed it over his eyes, then tilted his head back and washed his hair. It was coming in a bit more, a lighter brown than hers, but he still didn't have much.

"You take after me, you know. Gramma said I was bald until I was three, almost. Now I have more hair than I know what to do with."

"You have lovely hair" she heard from the doorway. She finished rinsing out Will's hair and turned to Sherlock.

"Thank you."

"Okay, Will, you're all clean now, so you can play with your boats!" She stood up and moved over to the bathroom counter, hoisting herself up so she could sit on it. Sherlock stepped into the bathroom, standing in front of her. They both turned and watched Will, who was taking his boats and plunging them under the water, then watching them float back up.

"That's what they were doing at the hands-on museum today. Talking about different things and how they float. They had the children take various objects and put them under water, and see if they came back up on their own."

Molly smiled, "Thank you for taking him. I try to get him out places when I have days off, but you know how it is. Well, maybe you do. You don't exactly work a regular schedule."

Sherlock leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I know how busy you are. And I enjoy spending time with Will." He scooted her over a bit on the counter and sat down next to her. She couldn't help but notice how he didn't have to hop up like she did.

"You're too tall," she said, elbowing him playfully. He smirked and then leaned over and kissed her softly.

"I'm a lot of things, but you seem to be willing to put up with it. My height will just have to be added to that list."

"Deal." she said, smiling and leaning over onto his shoulder.

After about 15 minutes, she announced to Will that it was time to get out. There was some fussing, but she got him to stand up and rinsed off the leftover soap bubbles and then wrapped him in a fluffy towel. She carried him into the bedroom, Sherlock tagging along behind her. Nappy and pajamas were procured and then put on, and then back into the bathroom for teeth cleaning and a drink of water.

"Sherlock read!" insisted Will when Molly tucked him into bed and reached over to the stack of books next to him. She'd recently moved him into a toddler bed, although most nights he still ended up crawling into bed with her. She looked up at Sherlock, who shrugged and smiled.

"Okay. Do you want mamma to stay?"

"Yes."

She sat down on the edge of her bed, as Sherlock settled his long frame onto the floor next to Will's small bed. She watched the two of them read through two books, and then Sherlock leaned over and kissed Will on the forehead. "Thank you for spending the day with me, Will."

"Night, Sherlock!" said Will. Molly stood and stepped around Sherlock and kissed Will goodnight. "Sleep well, sweetheart."

She turned on the small night light and then she and Sherlock made their way out to the sitting room. Before they'd ever made it to the sofa, Molly had grabbed his hand, turned him towards her, and was kissing him, her hands wrapped around his waist.

Sherlock kissed her back for a few moments, then pulled back and looked at her. "What was that for?"

"When you were at the museum today, did you get a lot of...female attention?"

Sherlock narrowed his eyes. "As a matter of fact, I did. I didn't think much about it, why?"

"Watching a man with a baby is incredibly sexy. And I am not immune." She grinned at him and lunged up for another kiss. "Suddenly, I am regretting the fact that I've been too cheap to move into a two bedroom flat."

Sherlock grinned at her and led her over to the sofa. "Well, it seems that we will have to contain ourselves. I think the term "making out like teenagers" applies here."

Molly laughed and pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa, covering them up. "I remember those days. Let me introduce you to the concept."


	11. Chapter 11

I know this one is short, but it's been holding me up in finishing this and I don't want to make people wait any longer.

* * *

"William Hooper, pick up your toys! Your friends are going to be here to celebrate your birthday soon!" called Molly from the kitchen, where she was finishing up decorating the small cake she'd made for William's birthday. Two of his friends from nursery school were coming over, as well as John and Mary and Amanda, and Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson. She'd decided on a small afternoon party - tea and biscuits and some small finger food rather than a big deal - and as difficult as Will was being that morning, she was very glad she hadn't decided to do something bigger.

William sat in the sitting room, surrounded by toys, happily banging two blocks together and ignoring his mother. Molly rolled her eyes. She'd just have to deal with it once she was done with the cake. William had hit the "terrible twos" just about right on time - every since Christmas he'd been stubborn, argumentative, and prone to temper tantrums. She knew it was normal, but as a single parent it was extra frustrating.

She was saved, however, by the door opening and Sherlock Holmes making his way in, his dark curls covered in the snow that was coming down. He slid out of his coat and hung it up, and came into the kitchen to kiss Molly. "How's the birthday boy's mummy doing?"

Molly kissed him back, careful not to touch him with her icing-covered hands. "Ignoring the fact that the sitting room looks like a toy store exploded in it, and people will be here soon."

Sherlock turned and looked at Will, who had happily just upended a bucket of blocks on the floor. "Let's see what I can do."

"Will! How can we have a birthday party in here? There's no room on the floor! Where do all these blocks go?" Will looked at him suspiciously, but then handed him the bucket he'd just dumped them out of. "Okay, let's put the blocks in the bucket. Mummy isn't going to let you open presents if you don't clean up!"

Molly smiled to herself and finished the cake. Will would do anything for Sherlock. Because Sherlock was Not Mommy. She set out the appetizers she had for people and then went into the sitting room.

"That's a big present, Sherlock, what did you buy him?" she eyed the package she hadn't noticed Sherlock bring in. It was in the corner, next to the handful of presents she's bought for Will.

Sherlock supervised Will piling up his books on the lower bookshelf that was "his" and then turned to Molly. "It's a surprise."

Molly narrowed her eyes. "Is it appropriate for two year olds?"

Sherlock shook his head. "Molly, Molly. Would I give your child something inappropriate?"

Molly had to laugh at this. "Yes?"

Sherlock smiled. "It's totally safe. You may not thank me, though. It's a set of toddler musical instruments. Xylophone, canastas, etc. Nice, quality wood pieces. He's too young for structured lessons but he really loves watching and listening to me play violin. So I thought we'd get him used to the idea of making music until he gets a little older and we can decide if he should have lessons in something. He can start violin around four…"

He trailed off, noticing the expression on Molly's face. "Have I done something wrong?"

Molly wrapped her arms around Sherlock's waist and leaned up to kiss him. "You're talking about what "we" should do about Will...two years from now. You have not done anything wrong. It just took me by surprise."

Sherlock reached down and stroked along Molly's cheek. "It surprises me, too. Let's not think too much about it. I'm very happy with the way things are going. I'd like them to continue going this way."

Molly smiled just as the doorbell rang and people started arriving. The party went well, with the children happily playing while the adults talked. After the practice of Christmas, Will was much better at opening presents, and he had seen enough birthdays to know he was supposed to blow out the candles, even if Sherlock leaned over and helped him a bit.

Once everyone was gone, Molly cleaned up while Sherlock helped Will open up the instruments. He showed Will how to use the various instruments. He took to the xylophone immediately, of course, and Molly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Music was a big part of Sherlock's life, and she should have known he would want to share that with Will. But couldn't it be quieter? She laughed at herself. Since when was life with a toddler quiet?

She joined them in the sitting room, watching Sherlock play simple tunes on the xylophone. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and even a basic version of Happy Birthday. Will, of course, would take the sticks from him and bang randomly, and Sherlock would smile.

After a little while, Sherlock got a text from Lestrade and was off on a case. Molly took the opportunity to put away the instruments and show him some of the other toys he'd received today. They had a small dinner, and she gave Will a bath.

Molly had just tucked Will into bed when she got a text from Sherlock, asking if he could come back over. She texted him back that he was always welcome, he should know that by now.

About a half hour later, Sherlock let himself into the flat. Molly had changed into her pajamas and was curled up on the couch with a book. Sherlock hung up his coat and ruffled his hair, trying to get the snow out.

"Molly." he said, sitting down next to her. Molly turned to him, setting her book down in her lap. SHe leaned over for a kiss, which Sherlock placed on her lips.

"Yes, Sherlock?"

"Your flat is too far away from Baker Street. And too small for you and a growing child."

Molly glanced around at the flat. She'd considered moving into a bigger place, but kept putting it off, since moving was so much work. "I know."

"There's two bedrooms at Baker Street…" he said, trailing off, watching her.

Molly bit her lip. She'd assumed she'd have to be the one to bring up moving in together. She looked at Sherlock. "I am a bit nervous about John's...the other bedroom being upstairs. Will is getting better with stairs but he's not great."

Sherlock nodded. "We'll gate it well. And make sure he gets lots of supervised practice. And if it's a huge problem, we can keep him downstairs with us, but I think he'll be okay."

Molly chewed on her bottom lip, looking around her flat. "Are you sure, Sherlock? Visiting a home with a toddler is not like living with one. He's loud. And disruptive."

Sherlock pulled Molly to him, leaning down to kiss her again. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, Molly. I want to come home to you. And Will."

"Okay." she said. "We'll move in with you. But we have to make sure Will is safe on those stairs."

"Of course, Molly. I wouldn't want anything to happen to him, either."


End file.
